Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Western Journal of Medicine logoLink to The Western Journal of Medicine
. 1983 Dec;139(6):885–891.

Ethnic Elders and American Health Care—A Physician's Perspective

Sundra S Kim
PMCID: PMC1011020  PMID: 6666105

Abstract

The aging process is a fugue composed of innumerable themes; the theme of “ethnicity” is by far one of its more dominant. Due to the increasing incidence of chronic, progressive infirmity and acute, catastrophic illness, the elderly are thrust into direct contact with the health care systems of their society. The experiences of ethnic elders in American health care situations are fraught with conflict and mutual dissatisfaction with the physician-patient relationship. Both providers and consumers of health care services harbor differing culture-bound perceptions of health, illness and the healing process; these cultural beliefs define personal and professional needs and expectations and notions of how those needs are to be met by others. Both physicians and patients can enhance their communication and their compassion for one another by acknowledgment of cultural differences and by increased willingness to interpret motives and behavior within native context.

It behooves us in medicine to examine the cultural traditions underlying our own attitudes, beliefs and values about the aged in a universal sense, as well as in a culturally specific sense, that we may gain insight that will be helpful in serving elderly persons more effectively, and in solving some of the problems inherent in the aging process.

Full text

PDF
885

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. A definition of irreversible coma. Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death. JAMA. 1968 Aug 5;205(6):337–340. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. An appraisal of the criteria of cerebral death. A summary statement. A collaborative study. JAMA. 1977 Mar 7;237(10):982–986. doi: 10.1001/jama.1977.03270370054022. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bayless T. M., Rothfeld B., Massa C., Wise L., Paige D., Bedine M. S. Lactose and milk intolerance: clinical implications. N Engl J Med. 1975 May 29;292(22):1156–1159. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197505292922205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Black P. M. Brain death (first of two parts). N Engl J Med. 1978 Aug 17;299(7):338–344. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197808172990705. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chung M. H., McGill D. B. Lactase deficiency in Orientals. Gastroenterology. 1968 Feb;54(2):225–226. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Clark M. The anthropology of aging, a new area for studies of culture and personality. Gerontologist. 1967 Mar;7(1):55–64. doi: 10.1093/geront/7.1.55. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Drory Y., Ouaknine G., Kosary I. Z., Kellermann J. J. Electrocardiographic findings in brain death; description and presumed mechanism. Chest. 1975 Apr;67(4):425–432. doi: 10.1378/chest.67.4.425. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Eisdorfer C. Care of the aged: the barriers of traditions. Ann Intern Med. 1981 Feb;94(2):256–260. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-94-2-256. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Holzberg C. S. Ethnicity and aging: anthropological perspectives on more than just the minority elderly. Gerontologist. 1982 Jun;22(3):249–257. doi: 10.1093/geront/22.3.249. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kalish R. A. A gerontological look at ethnicity, human capacities, and individual adjustment. Gerontologist. 1971 Spring;11(1 Suppl):78–87. doi: 10.1093/geront/11.1_part_2.78. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kent D. P. The elderly in minority groups: variant patterns of aging. Gerontologist. 1971 Spring;11(1 Suppl):26–29. doi: 10.1093/geront/11.1_part_2.26. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kiefer C. W. Notes on anthropology and the minority elderly. Gerontologist. 1971 Spring;11(1 Suppl):94–98. doi: 10.1093/geront/11.1_part_2.94. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Korsch B. M., Negrete V. F. Doctor-patient communication. Sci Am. 1972 Aug;227(2):66–74. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0872-66. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Markides K. S. Ethnicity and aging: a comment. Gerontologist. 1982 Dec;22(6):467–472. doi: 10.1093/geront/22.6.467. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mohandas A., Chou S. N. Brain death. A clinical and pathological study. J Neurosurg. 1971 Aug;35(2):211–218. doi: 10.3171/jns.1971.35.2.0211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Moore J. W. Situational factors affecting minority aging. Gerontologist. 1971 Spring;11(1 Suppl):88–93. doi: 10.1093/geront/11.1_part_2.88. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Nandi N. A., Parham E. S. Milk drinking by the lactose intolerant. Comparison of Caucasian and Oriental adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 1972 Sep;61(3):258–261. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Western Journal of Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES